BlackBerry Allegedly Developing Octa-Core 64-Bit Smartphone

Following an extremely rough year, BlackBerry unveiled its strategy for 2014: pump out cheap smartphones at Foxconn while the team at its Waterloo headquarters develops the next flagship smartphone. Sounds good to us, but the company may be looking beyond 2014, according to a new report which claims BlackBerry is also developing a octa-core 64-bit handset.

The high-powered device was first reported by BlackBerry watcher N4BB, citing several anonymous insiders who claim the future handset will sport a Snapdragon MSM8994. Qualcomm's octa-core chip offers 64-bit architecture and it's reportedly clocked at 2.5GHz. What remains unclear, however, is how BlackBerry plans to take advantage of that type of processor. Apple was the first to market with a 64-bit mobile processor in its iPhone 5s, and we're still waiting to see what kind of features that enables in the future.

In the meantime, BlackBerry is expected to announce two flagship devices codenamed Ontario and Windermere as follow-ups to the unsuccessful Z10 and Q10 alongside a low-end device codenamed Jakarta. Whether the company follows through with its octa-core plans likely depends on several factors, including whether BlackBerry still functions as a smartphone-maker a year from now.